S Africa, England gear up as final in Yokohama awaits
ENGLAND fly-half George Ford will start the Rugby World Cup final against South Africa after coach Eddie Jones named an unchanged XV on Thursday. Owen Farrell started at fly-half in the quarter-final win over Australia but moved to inside centre for the stunning 19-7 semi-final victory over reigning champions New Zealand, when Ford resumed the number 10 shirt.
The lone change to England’s match-day 23 to face the Springboks in Yokohama on Saturday is on the bench where scrum-half Ben Spencer, who only arrived in Japan on Monday, replaces the injured Willi Heinz.
Both Farrell, continuing his dual playmaker partnership with childhood friend Ford, and wing Jonny May have been passed fit following dead legs suffered against the All Blacks, while prop Kyle Sinckler has been given the all-clear following a calf injury sustained in the semi-final win.
Spencer’s three replacement appearances amount to just over 20 minutes of Test rugby.
“It has been a good week, the players have been together a while now so it’s less about the volume of training this week, it’s more about sharpening the sword,” said Jones, the coach of his native Australia when England beat the Wallabies in the 2003 World Cup final.
While England played plenty of attacking rugby in both the 44-16 win over Australia and against New Zealand, the Springboks ground their way to knockout wins over Japan (26-3) and Wales (16-13).
“South Africa are a difficult opponent and we are going to have to fight really hard to win,” added Jones, a consultant to the Springbok side that beat England in the 2007 World Cup final in Paris.
“We know the physical part of the game is going to be important and the players will go into this game well prepared knowing how we want to play.
“We will go and play with no fear,” added Jones, who will become only the third England coach to be in charge for 50 Tests on Saturday.
“South Africa will probably play a similar type of game they have played all tournament so we need to be good in the arm-wrestle and when we have the opportunities to break the game up, we are then confident and composed enough to take them,” explained Jones, whose 80 per cent win rate is the best of any England coach.
Every team that has won the World Cup has done so unbeaten, with England yet to lose a match at Japan.
South Africa, by contrast, lost to New Zealand in their opening pool match.
The Springboks, however, have won both their previous World Cup finals, defeating the All Blacks on home soil in 1995 before beating England 12 years later in France.
This will be England’s fourth World Cup final, with the Red Rose brigade losing to Australia at Twickenham in the 1991 showpiece match.
Sole survivor
England have won their last two Tests against South Africa, edging out the Springboks 12-11 when the teams last met at Twickenham in November last year.
South Africa announced their team for the final earlier on Thursday, with the return of fit-again wing Cheslin Kolbe the only change to their starting XV.
Frans Steyn is South Africa’s cool and collected super-sub, according to coach Rassie Erasmus, and also the sole survivor of the Springbok team that last won the World Cup in 2007.
Steyn, now 32, came into the World Cup in Japan as one of only 15 players who had also played in the 2007 tournament in France.
Twelve years ago, Steyn, then just 20, started the final at inside centre and kicked one 49m penalty as the Boks ran out 15-6 winners at the Stade de France against England .
“I’m just enjoying the week,” Steyn said when asked about the build-up to the final, after Erasmus named him on the bench.
“The last time it wasn’t so serious for me. I was a little bit young and I just thought there would be another opportunity.
“Now it’s a little bit more serious because I know there won’t be another opportunity. It doesn’t come along every day to play in a final and we have to make it count.”
Steyn had played just 10 matches, at fly-half, for the Sharks in the 2006 Currie Cup Premier Division when he was picked for the Springboks’ autumn tour by then-coach Jake White.
At 19, he made a try-scoring debut on the wing against Ireland, before moving to fullback for his second game, against England, scoring a memorable long-range drop-goal from inside his own half.
His ease at playing anywhere in the backline did not go unnoticed, Steyn signing a lucrative, three-year contract with Racing-Metro in the Top 14 in 2009.
He played for the Boks again at the 2011 World Cup, where they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Australia. Steyn went to to sign for two seasons for Toshiba Brave Lupus in Japan before joining Montpellier in 2016, where White was again his coach.
His move to Japan saw him take a three-year absence from the national team, but he was recalled in 2017 after injuries to Pat Lambie and current fly-half Handre Pollard.
“Frans is a difficult guy to tap into!” Erasmus joked of his taciturn utility back.
“He is definitely a calming factor in the team because he doesn’t stress out a lot. That is why it is wonderful to have him on the bench, covering so many positions.
“It doesn’t matter if you are ahead on the scoreboard or behind – he just enjoys the game, no matter what the situation is. It does have a good calming influence on and off the field.”
Erasmus has been opting for a replacements bench of six forwards and two backs. Herschel Jantjies provides scrum-half cover, while Steyn can slot in anywhere else.